Rice Names `Drug Czar’ Brown to Joint Social Sciences/Baker

CONTACT: Michael Cinelli
PHONE: (713) 831-4794

RICE NAMES `DRUG CZAR’ BROWN TO JOINT SOCIAL SCIENCES/BAKER
INSTITUTE POSTS

Lee P. Brown, director of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy, is leaving his position with
the Clinton Administration and has accepted a joint appointment at
Rice University.

Brown’s acceptance of appointments as the Radoslav A. Tsanoff
Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and as
Senior Institute Fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for
Public Policy was announced today by Rice President Malcolm Gillis.

“Rice is most fortunate to have attracted Lee Brown,” Gillis
said. “He is the ideal choice to fill the dual roles of Tsanoff
Professor and Senior Institute Fellow at the Baker Institute. He has
served the state and the nation with great distinction. The depth of
experience he brings in dealing with crime and problems plaguing our
cities will advance significantly the discussion of those issues at
Rice.”

Brown was first approached by Rice faculty members about the
appointment, and his move to the university has strong faculty
support.

“We are extremely pleased-and fortunate-to have Lee Brown as a
colleague in our department,” said Chandler Davidson, chair of the
sociology department. “His experience is truly unique. Not only is
he one of the most distinguished law enforcement officials in the
nation, he holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of
California at Berkeley. Brown and professor Bill Martin, who has
long taught our criminology course, already know each other and are
both enthusiastic about jointly offering a new criminology course.

“Chief Brown has also expressed interest in developing courses
on major urban problems aside from crime in particular. I anticipate
that he will be a catalyst for interdisciplinary collaboration in
teaching and research and, of course, he will contribute to Rice’s
many efforts to connect in fruitful ways to the Houston community.”

Interim Dean of the School of Social Sciences Robert Stein and
Baker Institute Director Edward Djerejian were pleased that Brown
had chosen Rice as the place to return to life in the private
sector.

“Lee Brown is an excellent choice as the first Senior Institute
Fellow of the Baker Institute,” Djerejian said. “He personifies both
the scholar and the practitioner of public policy which represents
the model of the Baker Institute, and a bridge between the worlds of
action and ideas.

“He has demonstrated competence and a strong interest in urban
problems, particularly crime, and he will be a natural complement to
those faculty members who share these interests.”

Brown served as chief of police in Houston, as well as in
Atlanta and New York City, before joining the Clinton Administration
as “drug czar” in June 1993. His experience and interest in the drug
problem will facilitate Rice’s bridge-building efforts with the
Texas Medical Center, Djerejian said.

“His appointment gives Rice a strong link to the Houston
community and represents tangible evidence of our desire to reach
out `beyond the hedges’ at the local and national level,” he said.

Prior to becoming director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, Brown was a Distinguished Professor at Texas
Southern University in Houston and director of the university’s
Black Male Initiative Program.

Brown began his career in law enforcement in 1960 as a patrolman
in San Jose, Calif. He moved to Portland, Ore., eight years later
and established the Department of Administration of Justice at
Portland State University.

In 1972, he joined Howard University in Washington, D.C. He
became associate director of the Institute for Urban Affairs and
Research. He also held the academic rank of Professor of Public
Administration and director of Criminal Justice Programs.

Brown received a doctorate in criminology from the University of
California at Berkeley in 1970; a master’s in criminology from the
same school in 1968; a master’s in sociology from San Jose State
University in 1964; and a bachelor’s degree in criminology from
Fresno State in 1961.

He is the past president of the International Association of
Chiefs of Police and is involved in a number of professional and
community organizations. He is also co-author of the book “Police
and Society: An Environment for Collaboration and Confrontation.”

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